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San Francisco

SF could allow unlimited home building along western corridors

Mayor proposes legislation to encourage dense housing in Sunset and Richmond

From left: Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Mayor of San Francisco London Breed along with San Francisco's Sunset District (Getty, Drngogo, CC BY-SA 4.0 - via Wikimedia Commons)

From left: Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Mayor of San Francisco London Breed along with San Francisco’s Sunset District (Getty, Drngogo, CC BY-SA 4.0 – via Wikimedia Commons)

Developers in San Francisco may soon get free rein to pack in homes along parts of the city’s west side. 

Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Myrna Melgar have proposed a law to allow developers to build as many homes as they want on commercial corridors on the city’s west side and elsewhere, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The proposed changes, to be introduced next month, are the latest in zoning overhauls meant to encourage housing in west side neighborhoods, including Sunset and Richmond, which have seen few new homes in decades.

The legislation would end “arbitrary residential density limits that currently apply in certain mixed-use commercial districts,” Breed said in a statement. “These arbitrary restrictions are hurting our ability to meet the housing needs of our city.”  

San Francisco is working to rezone much of the city to meet a state-mandated goal to find room for 82,000 homes over the next eight years. Of those, 46,000 must be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents. 

The proposed legislation would allow greater housing density on Irving and Taraval streets in the Sunset District; Clement Street and Geary Boulevard in the Richmond District; and 24th Street in Noe Valley, according to the Chronicle.

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It will also apply to part of Polk Street and the north end of Van Ness Avenue, which have strong transit lines.

For more than 15 years, eastside neighborhoods such as Dogpatch, the Mission, and SoMa have allowed builders to squeeze as many units as they pleased, provided they adhere to requirements such as height and bulk limits.

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But roadblocks in many other busy commercial districts have held back the number of units that can be built, based on the size of the parcel. The pending legislation would end those restrictions. 

San Francisco had already planned to rezone Richmond and Sunset and low-density areas of the westside to allow for 34,000 housing units, or 41 percent of the homes San Francisco must build by 2031

— Dana Bartholomew

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Housing ElementLegislationLondon BreedMyrna MelgarResidential Real EstateRichmondSan FranciscoSunsetWest SideZoning